In vision based positioning systems, identification of landmarks and/or points of interest in images may be used in conjunction with the known positions of the landmarks and/or points of interest to estimate the location of a mobile device. Vision based positioning may be useful is situations where Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) such as the Global Positioning System (GPS) or other network based positioning techniques are less effective. For example, GPS based positioning may not be effective within a building, or in dense urban areas due to signal unavailability, signal losses and/or other factors. Landmark or vision based positioning may also provide an alternate location estimation technique that can be used to increase the reliability and accuracy of location estimates obtained using other techniques.
While vision based positioning of mobile devices can be useful, there may be situations where user invocation of vision based positioning (VBP) may be cumbersome, impractical or difficult. For example, older users or young children may be able to make calls but may experience difficulty in using vision based positioning systems. In another instance, during an emergency, the user may not be in a state of mind and/or have the time to invoke a vision based positioning application.
Therefore, there is a need for systems and methods to enhance the usability of vision based location estimations provided by vision based positioning systems.